


Safe

by Ancalime1



Series: Tumblr Prompts [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Thor is a Good Boyfriend, Tumblr Prompt, author is projecting into oblivion, idk man it's been forever since i posted fic and it suuuucks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-28 06:16:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16717947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ancalime1/pseuds/Ancalime1
Summary: Based on a prompt from tumblr! Bruce has a nightmare about the accident in the lab, and Thor comforts him with blankets and rainstorms.





	Safe

He was back in the lab, back in that damn chair. Even now, he could feel his ego swelling within his chest, smothering his anxiety about the one-thousand-and-one things that could go wrong in a radioactivity lab. But he had prepared for this. The grueling paperwork. The countless animal trials. He had prepared, and he had researched, and he had perfected. And now it was time to perform the test onto a human subject—and who better to test it on then himself?

He gave a thumbs-up to Betty, signaling that he was ready for the procedure to begin. Betty nodded, her eyes fearful but trusting.  _ It’s gonna be alright,  _ he wanted to tell her.  _ I’ll be alright.  _

He clenched his fists and squeezed his eyes shut….

Green. All green. Fragments of the lab ripped through his vision like static, searing into his eyeballs like needles. People were shouting, their screams splitting into his ears and throttling his brain. He felt dazed, weak, as if in some sort of drunken stupor—what the hell… what the hell was happening?

And then he saw her. Betty, curled up on the floor, her face bloodied and broken. There were tears on her cheeks, still fresh. And her eyes—her once-beautiful crystalline eyes—now lifeless, the last traces of fear still floating within their depths. 

He woke up, chest heaving. It had happened again. The same dream he’d been having since he returned to earth, only this time it had been more vivid than before. A lump had formed inside his throat, and tears began to cloud his vision. He couldn’t breathe. He felt as if his ribs were digging into his lungs, constricting them like a belt round his neck. God. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t breathe….

The bedroom door cracked open just a smidge, and a fragment of light filtered through. “Bruce?” came a deep voice. A figure stood in the doorway—tall, pajama-clad, outlined by the soft yellow light of the kitchen. Bruce rubbed his eyes and squinted through tears.  _ Shit. _ He bolted upright in bed.  _ Thor. _

He hadn’t even realized it, but he had been whimpering. That must have been what caught Thor’s attention. “I’m—I’m fine,” he choked out. He immediately bowed his head and curled into himself. He wasn’t fine, but damn if he didn’t want Thor to know that. 

“ _ Bruce,”  _ came Thor’s voice again. There was a soft click of a lamp being turned on, and damn it all _ ,  _ now he was exposed. Humiliation washed over him as Thor stooped beside him, tentatively reaching out a hand to brush away his tears. Bruce shuddered beneath the touch, and Thor immediately withdrew his hand. “Hey,” he said, voice soft. “You’re okay. You’re safe.” He paused. “Can… can you breathe with me?” 

Panting, Bruce nodded his head. His head was racing so much that he could barely see Thor, who was now no more than a nondescript blob of color beside him. But his voice cut through the din of his head almost perfectly, like a glimmering lamp in a snowstorm, or a star through a cloud. Bruce reached out and grasped Thor’s hand, and Thor squeezed it in return. 

“Okay. Just follow my voice….”

They sat there breathing deeply for what felt like ten hours. Each inhale felt strained, every exhale shaky—but soon enough the weight on his chest had lifted, and the room came back into focus. He gasped, and dug his fists into his eyes. “Thor, I’m… I’m so sorry,” he said, sniffling. “I was hoping you wouldn’t notice, I—”

“It’s okay, don’t talk,” said Thor, gently resting his hand on Bruce’s shoulder. This caused a new wave of tears to spring into Bruce’s eyes, and he twisted and threw himself into Thor’s arms. There was a grunt of surprise, but soon after Thor’s arms wrapped around his back, securing the embrace.

“I dreamt about it again,” sniffled Bruce, his voice muffled against Thor’s shoulder. “About the accident. About  _ her _ .”

“I know,” said Thor, stroking Bruce’s back. “I know. But she’s okay, you know that, right? She’s okay. Everyone is okay, and that includes both you  _ and _ her.” 

At this, Bruce’s sobs intensified, and he tightened his arms around Thor. “Don’t leave me,” he whispered, voice hoarse.

“I won’t.” 

They were like that for several minutes—Bruce halfway out of the bed, leaning into Thor—Thor, his anchor, his tether, the one constant in his life that kept him from spiraling into empty space. It was Thor’s voice that had guided him out of his panic, and Thor’s warm embrace that had reassured him, brought him back down to the ground. The dream still felt real, but it now sat on the cusp of his mind, no longer a threat for now. Betty was safe. He was safe. And Thor… Thor was here. Everything was going to be okay.

“Mind if I join you?” came Thor’s voice, soft and breeze-like against his ear.

Slowly Bruce pulled himself out of the embrace. Blinking through tears, he smiled at Thor. “I’d love that.”

Thor grinned that dopey grin of his, and carefully he climbed in beside Bruce and snuggled him, drawing him close beneath the blankets so that their bodies were flush against each other. Bruce smiled even wider, his tears finally subsiding. Curling into Thor, he began to hear the distant rumble of thunder, and the soft fall of rain.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Feel free to leave a comment if you like, or come say hello to me on tumblr @autistic-thor. Thanks! <3


End file.
